


Infinite

by ValdangeloMalec



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cute, Fluff, High School AU, Josh works at a coffee shop, M/M, Tyler is pretty insecure, but happy ending, coffee shop AU, general cuteness, the second chapter gets bit darker, the title has literally nothing to do with anything, they go to a fair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 21:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5064157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValdangeloMalec/pseuds/ValdangeloMalec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler is an insecure high school student in grade 12, and Josh is his kind-of friend who’s graduated school and works at Tyler’s favourite coffee shop. It’s just really fucking cute and pretty much all fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Josh made Tyler feel better about himself. Josh didn’t know this – Josh didn’t really know Tyler. Not very well, anyways. He didn’t know that Tyler had to go to therapy once a week because he was in a ‘critical position’. He didn’t know that Tyler’s parents made him leave the door open when he went to his room, and made sure to be in the bathroom with him when he shaved, and then took the razors off of him at once. He didn’t know that Tyler had made a stupid decision to try and kill himself when he was so stressed out that he couldn’t think properly. All Josh knew was that Tyler liked the unpopular coffee shop that Josh worked at, and he liked to go there by himself. 

And Tyler loved that Josh knew nothing. It made the fact that Josh liked him that much sweeter.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Josh scolded, swatting him lightly with the cloth he was using to wipe down the unused tables. Tyler was the only customer – just how the two of them liked it. 

“I’m sick,” Tyler lied, letting out a pathetic cough and grinning up at Josh, who laughed at his obvious lie. 

“Whatever you say, kid,” Josh ruffled his hair and made his way to the counter, throwing his cloth in the vague direction of where it was meant to be. Tyler sighed irritably. Josh loved to rub it in his face that he was a year older, and had already graduated high school, and acted as if he was a mature, whereas Tyler was a child. Josh noticed this and smirked.

“Ooh, am I annoying ickle baby Tyler? Want to go and cry to mummy?” he cooed, slipping into the seat opposite Tyler as Tyler flipped him off. 

“I’m barely a year younger than you, dickhead.” In actuality, Tyler was glad that Josh was older than him. It meant that they didn’t go to school together, and that Josh didn’t know what went on there. Not that Josh would have gone to his school anyway, Tyler supposed, considering Josh had said neither he nor his parents were Christian, like Tyler’s school was. 

“Tell me something about you Tyler,” Josh said out of the blue, making Tyler immediately nervous. “I feel as though we’ve been talking for ages, but I barely know you.” Just the way I like it, Tyler thought, looking down at the table. As soon as Josh got to know him, everything would fall apart. Tyler had a good system going on – he had two lives, his normal every day one, and the one with Josh. He knew that he was a fuck up in his real life, but with Josh, a guy who didn’t even know his last name, he felt as though he could be anyone he liked. He didn’t feel as insecure around Josh because they didn’t really know each other – if Josh got to know him properly, his two worlds would collide, and Josh would realise how messed up his life actually was. 

“What do you want to know?” Tyler asked, hoping for an easy question, but all of those had been asked in the first few weeks of their odd friendship. 

“Something that nobody else knows,” Josh said. Tyler hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

“I told you at the start of the year that I wanted to be a professional basketball player, but I don’t. I just want to make my parents happy, and I’ve actually been kicked off the school team, but they don’t – they can’t – know that,” Tyler said, deciding that it wasn’t too personal. 

“My parents refuse to pay for my university because they think that studying music is a waste of time. That’s why I work here.” It made Tyler happy, in a very sick, twisted way, to hear that Josh’s life wasn’t as perfect as his face was. 

“Do you even make money here? I feel as though I’m your only customer, and you always give me a discount,” Josh chuckled and shrugged, slightly sadly.

“I know it’s so unpopular – I’m pretty sure we spend more money than we make, and the owner won’t be able to keep the place open much longer.” They sat in solemn silence for a few moments. “Are you happy, Tyler?” Josh asked softly, meeting Tyler’s eyes. Tyler struggled to answer. Was he happy. At the moment, sat with Josh, he felt like he was happy. 

“I’m happy when I’m with you,” Tyler answered slowly, choosing his words carefully. Josh obviously noticed the wording and looked at Tyler sadly. 

“I’m sick of this place. Let’s close early and go somewhere fun,” Josh announced brightly, standing up. 

“Won’t you get in trouble?” Tyler asked, worried. He had never met Josh anywhere that wasn’t the coffee shop.

“Nobody needs to know,” Josh smirked, winking and offering Tyler his hand, which he hesitantly took. A moment later, he was being yanked out of the door and in a random direction Josh chose. 

“Where are we going?” Tyler asked, trying to hide a smile. 

“Wherever we want to go. There are no boundaries today. Everyone needs a day that they can be anybody they want and go anywhere they want. For us, today is that day,” Josh said, and Tyler thought he might’ve fallen in love with Josh, just a little bit, in that moment. 

They walked for a while, up until Josh gasped melodramatically and tugged on Tyler’s arm to stop his from moving. “The fair,” he declared excitedly, pointed to a large area filled with ride’s and stalls in the distance. 

“Aren’t they only open at night?” Tyler asked, frowning. He had never been to a fair in the daytime.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Come on,” he said, and they made their way to the fair. It was fairly empty when they got there, but it was open. Josh wanted to see everything, and Tyler was more than happy to accompany him. They bought candyfloss and caramel popcorn and ran around and laughed and went on the rides as the sky grew darker and more people began to show up. Josh said something so funny that it made Tyler’s drink come out of his nose, and Tyler turned out to be pro at fair games, but to the annoyance of the workers at the stalls. 

“Today was perfect,” Tyler said, smiling up at the sky as the two of them lay on their backs on a patch of grass they had found, far enough away from the fair that it wasn’t too distracting, but not so far that they couldn’t hear the faint buzzing sounds of people’s happiness. 

“No past tense – today isn’t over yet. It could still become infinitely better,” Josh said, looking at Tyler, who smiled softly but didn’t turn his head. 

“They’re beautiful,” he murmured, gesturing towards the stars. Josh made a noise of affirmation, but when Tyler turned to look at him, he realised that Josh hadn’t looked away from Tyler. 

“Perfect night, hmm?” Josh murmured.

“Like a fairy tale,” Tyler whispered back, not sure why they were whispering, but he didn’t stop, feeling as if it fit the mood. Josh smiled softly as his comment and shuffled closer. Tyler felt is face warming and his heart beginning to pound faster. 

“A fairy tale, huh?” Tyler, feeling as if he couldn’t talk, just nodded, eyes darting to Josh’s lips and back again. The two of them were on their sides, facing each other, faces only mere inches apart. Slowly, Josh’s hand snaked onto Tyler neck, stay there, unmoving, for a few moments. Tyler swallowed nervously, not moving. “Can I…” Josh trailed off, and Tyler just nodded, that being enough for Josh to pull him closer and kiss him. The kiss didn’t last long, Josh pulling back after only a few moments and pressing their foreheads together. 

“You were right,” Tyler said after a few minutes. “The night did become infinitely better,” with that, Josh smiled and kissed Tyler again, the two of them grinning into the kiss and making the most of the night before it could end.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was different from how I thought it would be. I'm not very happy with it, but i promised a second chapter and I've been ignoring this story for so long. As i said in the tags, this chapter gets little darker, but there's still fluff and a happy ending. I hope i don;t disappoint too much.  
> Trigger warning: Suicidal thoughts

Tyler was straining to keep his eyes open, his History teachers voice becoming an annoying buzzing in the back of his mind. He didn’t regret his night with Josh in the slightest, but he wished it hadn’t been on a weekday. 

“Mr Joseph!” Mr Stump (yeah I made Patrick a fucking history teacher idc fight me) barked, making Tyler jump slightly in my chair. “See me after class,” Tyler swallowed nervously at those words, nodding, as he didn’t trust himself to speak without stuttering. Mr Stump was generally a sweetheart, but Tyler couldn’t stand getting in trouble with anyone. The rest of history class went on slowly, Tyler struggling to keep his eyes opening, but managing to make it through the lesson, staying behind instead of going to lunch with his peers. 

Tyler stayed in his desk, wringing his hands nervously. He wasn’t sure if he was meant to go up to Mr Stump’s desk or stay where he was, so he didn’t move, which seemed to be the right decision as Mr Stump made his way over to him. 

“Are you alright Tyler?” Mr Stump asked softly, sitting in the chair next to him. Tyler didn’t say anything, blinking in surprise. He hadn’t expected that question.

“Why do you ask?” Tyler asked cautiously. He was certain that his parents would’ve asked the teachers to check on him, so he didn’t want to immediately assume that Mr Stump was asking of his own accord.

“You seem very tired and out of it today – I wasn’t sure if there was something bothering you,” Mr Stump explained, and Tyler shrugged awkwardly. 

“I just didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all – it wasn’t anything bad,” Tyler explained, not wanting to worry any teachers and have them report back to his parents, who were already panicked about Tyler leaving school early the day before. 

“Can I ask why?”

“You can ask, but don’t expect to get an answer,” Tyler said before he could think about it, then realise that it wasn’t the most appropriate thing to say to a teacher and ducked his head, worrying his lip. Mr Stump just chuckled and stood up.

“You can talk to me about anything, Tyler, remember that. I know I sound like a stereotypical teacher, but I have to if I want to get my point across. I won’t tell your parents anything you tell me, unless, of course, I believe that you are in danger.” Tyler faked a smile and nodded, knowing that he wasn’t going to talk to Mr Stump about anything, and he was sent off to lunch.

“What took you so long?” Brendon asked as soon as Tyler slipped into the seat opposite him. Tyler shrugged and mumbled something about Mr Stump wanting to talk to him, which Brendon seemed to find an acceptable answer, and proceeded to launch into a speech about what he thought about the new kid in his music class, Ryan. This was pretty much the reason Tyler and Brendon were such good friends – Brendon loved to ramble on about anything and everything, and Tyler was fine with pretending to listen, as long as he didn’t have to do the talking. There were no awkward silences – or silences at all – when one was friends with Brendon. 

“Tyler! Are you listening?” Brendon asked fixing him with a glare. “I’m having a crisis here,” Brendon made a melodramatic gesture with his hands, nearly smacking some poor kid who had been walking by in the face. 

“Sorry? What’s your crisis?” Tyler asked, knowing that, with Brendon, it could be the most pathetic thing and he could make a giant deal out of it. Brendon looked around, making sure nobody was nearby, before leaning over the table and beckoning Tyler closer. Tyler sighed and leaned forwards.

“You have to promise not to tell anyone. And not to freak out,” Brendon whispered.

“I promise,” Tyler said warily, growing more curious of what Brendon was talking about than he would like to admit. 

“So this kid in my class – Ryan? I like him,” Brendon said, then pulling back to observe Tyler reaction.

“Why is this a big deal? You like a lot of people,” Tyler said obliviously, making Brendon roll his eyes. 

“No, you don’t understand. I like him. Like, I want to kiss him and stuff,” Brendon said lowly, then looked around fearfully. Tyler knew why – their school didn’t tolerate homosexuality, due to its Christian nature. Brendon’s family wasn’t even Christian, they were Mormon. Brendon had told him that he only went to a Christian school because there weren’t any Mormon schools, and apparently Brendon’s parents would prefer a Christian school over a school with no religious affliction. “Say something,” Brendon demanded, looking slightly fearful.

“I don’t care,” Tyler shrugged, not knowing quite what to say. He actually did care – he was really fucking relieved that Brendon was gay, because it meant that he would accept Tyler. But Tyler wasn’t ready to tell anyone, so he didn’t reveal this to Brendon. 

“Really?” Brendon beamed, a smile stretching over his giant lips. 

“Really,” Tyler shrugged, and, surprisingly, they spent the rest of the lunch break in a comfortable silence, Brendon seeming to have nothing to say.

~*~

Tyler made his way out of school alone, he and Brendon having had different classes for the last period and not bothering to wait for each other. Tyler was focused on getting out of school without anyone noticing him, making sure to keep his head down and walk fast. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky today. They didn’t even say anything, the boys who had stopped him. They just made gesture – one mimed shooting himself in the head with a finger gun, the other acted out someone hanging themselves, and the last melodramatically sawing at his wrists with his finger, Tyler forced himself to turn around and blink the tears out of his eyes. He didn’t even know how they knew about what he had done, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to go home. 

Tyler rushed out of the school, hearing the guys laughing at him and cringing to himself. He didn’t look where he was going as he fought through people desperately, needing to get home, and ended up crashing into someone, knocking both of them over, Tyler landing on top of the guy he had ran into, who let out a loud ‘oof!’ as he hit the ground.

“Not exactly the welcome I was expecting,” Josh commented breathlessly as Tyler scrambled off of him. 

“What are you doing here?” Tyler demanded, offering him a hand, which he took without question.

“I came to see you, believe it or not. What were those guys doing?” Josh frowned, brushing himself off as he looked over Tyler’s shoulder at the dickheads who had stopped him previously. No, Tyler thought desperately, this can’t be happening. Josh wasn’t meant to come to his school. Josh wasn’t meant to see the gestures the guys had made. Josh was meant to be part of Tyler’s secret second life, not barge himself into his normal one. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” Tyler said weakly, noticing people looking at them, and feeling his face heat up. He noticed a group of girls nudging each other and pointing to Josh, and those small gestures managing to make him furious. He was sure that Josh got this everywhere he went – he was gorgeous – but Tyler wanted people to know that Josh was his, even though Josh wasn’t really his, and he didn’t want people to know anything about him. 

“Why not?” Josh asked quietly, looking slightly hurt. Tyler didn’t want that – he really didn’t – but he didn’t have a choice but to push Josh away. 

“Just go home,” Tyler said harshly, hating himself for having to say the words. “I don’t want to talk to you now.” Josh’s eyes hardened and he turned away angrily, Tyler feeling worse and worse with each step Josh took. 

Tyler hurried home, hating himself for what he said to Josh. But he panicked. Things had been going so well – nobody knew about Josh and Josh didn’t know anything about what Tyler was really like. Tyler couldn’t risk fucking that up. As soon as he got home, he dumped his bag down and changed out of his school uniform and into some decent clothes and set off to Josh’s coffee shop, not even telling his parents that he was going out. 

He had to convince himself to go inside – he knew Josh was going to be mad at him, and he wasn’t sure if he could handle that. With a deep breath, he pushed open the door, Josh looking over immediately as he was alerted by the jingling bells. He snorted in disgust and turned back to what he was doing, which was cleaning the coffee machine.

“Josh…” Tyler said weakly, not sure what he was going to say next. Josh didn’t respond – didn’t even look at him. “I’m sorry. I really am. You just don’t understand-”

“You’re right Tyler, I don’t understand, but you can hardly expect me to, can you. You refuse to tell me anything important about yourself. I show up to your school expecting to surprise you with a romantic date, but instead see some guys pretending to kill themselves to get to you and am completely brushed off by you. So, Tyler, if you actually give a shit about me, make me understand.”

Tyler couldn’t speak for a few moments. He was internally freaking out – he didn’t know what to do. Josh had raised his voice and was looking at him like he hated him, and Tyler, the fucking pathetic person that he was, was just standing there trying to hold back tears. 

“I don’t want you to understand,” Tyler whispered eventually. “You’ll realise that I’m not nearly as good as you think I am.” Josh’s expression softened slightly, and turned from anger to confusion. 

“I really like you Tyler. I doubt what you have to tell me is bad enough to drive me away,” Josh assured. Tyler hesitated for a moment before finally sitting down and gesturing to the seat opposite to him, indicating for Josh to join him. 

“Don’t say anything until I finish,” Tyler said quietly, deciding he might as well just get everything out of the way now. Despite how much he didn’t want to, he wanted to date this guy, and he knew it would be unfair to Josh to start anything without telling him what had happened first. “Everything started getting really bad last year. I was super stressed out – not just the usual stress that came from the end of year exams, although I’m sure that that added onto it. It was kind of like I was stressing about nothing, but it would get so bad that I couldn’t sit still, I couldn’t sleep, I could barely eat, I could never focus on anything. My parents noticed at the end of the year, and thought it would help to take me away on holiday. It didn’t help at all. It made thing worse. It was awful to be away from home, in a place I didn’t know, and to make things worse, I started questioning my sexuality, which had me beyond freaked out. 

“By the time I got back to school after the holidays, I was a mess. I had found out that I was gay, and couldn’t tell anyone. I lost my friends – they couldn’t deal with me anymore, except for Brendon, who stuck by with me, despite the fact that he lost his popularity. I felt as though things got worse every day, until I couldn’t take it anymore. One night, when my parents had gone out and I had the house to myself, I tried to hang myself from a ceiling fan. The rope broke and my parents found me and took me to hospital. 

“I have to take anxiety medication now, and I have to attend weekly therapy sessions. I didn’t – I didn’t want you to know, because you were… you were my escape from my life. Around you, I could be somebody else entirely – like you said yesterday. Everybody needs a day where they can be anyone they want. Except I needed several days. I needed a whole new life where I could be anyone and go anywhere. And you – you gave that to me, even though you didn’t know it.” Josh slid a hand over the table and took Tyler’s in his own. 

“I can’t believe you think that something like that could make me like you any less,” he said softly, and Tyler’s heart, which had been pounding against his chest the entire time he had been speaking, calmed down a little. “Just promise me one thing?” Josh asked hesitantly, and Tyler looked up to meet him in the eye. “Promise me that you kissing me – that last night wasn’t just you trying to create this alternate life for yourself. Promise me that you meant it.”

“I promise,” Tyler said immediately, needing no time to think about it. Josh smiled genuinely at him and stood up, pulling Tyler up with him. 

“How about that romantic date then?” Josh asked, and Tyler just smiled at him, holding in his dramatic sigh of relief.

~*~

“It’s not very original,” Josh apologised, piggy backing Tyler as they walked to Josh’s mystery location, Tyler blindfolded as to not ruin the surprise. 

“How many dates have you been on where you were piggy backed there?” Tyler asked, his head resting on Josh’s shoulder and his lips moving against his neck. 

“This is my first date,” Josh said simply, and Tyler’s head shot up so he could stare at him (well, the blindfold, but his head was aimed in Josh’s general direction) in shock, not that Josh could see.

“This is your first date?” Tyler asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Josh said, sounding slightly stung. “It’s your first date too, isn’t it?”

“Well yeah, but that’s different,” Tyler said, placing his head back on Josh’s shoulder.

“How’s it different?”

“Have you seen you?” Tyler asked before he could stop himself. Josh didn’t laugh like Tyler thought he would. Instead, he softly murmured that they were there, and let Tyler off of his back. Before Tyler could take off the blindfold, however, Josh was kissing his passionately, Tyler simply allowing himself to melt into the kiss. 

“What was that for?” Tyler asked, lightheaded, when they finally broke apart. 

“It was because you’re fucking gorgeous,” Josh said fiercely, tugging at the blindfold until it came undone. Tyler looked around. It was a slightly odd place for a first date. They were in the garden of a broken down, burnt, shell of a house which looked like it shouldn’t even be standing. The garden, unlike the house, was gorgeous. There was a small pond with a bridge running over it, a flowerbed that was a little wild, as it wasn’t being maintained by anyone, lush green grass, and, by the pond, a picnic basket and blanket which Tyler assumed Josh had set up. 

“Where are we?” Tyler asked Josh when he had finished surveying the scene. 

“This is my nan’s old house. It burnt down a while back,” Josh said carelessly, and, seeing the horror-struck look on Tyler’s face, decided to explain. “She got out okay and everything – she’s still alive today. Nobody ever did anything with the house, though, so I come here from time to time.”

Tyler wordlessly sat on the picnic blanket and Josh sat with him. They talked for a while about nothing in particular, and Tyler couldn’t have been happier. 

“Thank you,” Tyler said suddenly, interrupting Josh mid-sentence. 

“What for?” Josh asked softly.

“You just – it’s just that I’m so happy right now. So thank you for making me this happy,” Tyler said slowly, wanting to properly explain how he was feeling but struggling for the words.

“I wish you didn’t have to thank me for that. You deserve to be happy all the time,” Josh said and Tyler couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed until he was clutching his stomach in that pleasant pain you get when you laugh too hard for your own good. Josh just looked on warily. “What?”

“It’s just… you just say shit like that. It’s just so fucking sappy, I can’t get over it,” explaining himself, Tyler realised that it wasn’t actually that funny, but it felt so good to laugh like he didn’t have control over himself. 

“Hey, I’m a sappy guy,” Josh defended himself, punching Tyler playfully and cracking a grin. The serious mood had been broken and Tyler flopped back onto the ground, lying next to Josh like they had the night before. Josh took his hand and Tyler smiled softly to himself. He finally felt like he would be okay.

~*~

Tyler was not okay. He had taken his anxiety pills with shaky hands that morning, knowing it wasn’t going to be a good day already, but having no way to avoid it. His parents didn’t believe in mental health days – sometimes Tyler thought of trying to kill himself again just to spite them. Yeah, thy would pretend to care, but Tyler knew what he could do to stop them. All he needed to do was come out.

But, shaking and crying in the boys toilets, coming out was the furthest thing from Tyler’s mind. He was gasping for breath, trying to take back control, but he just couldn’t stop fucking crying. Nothing had happened to him – he had just felt the unshed tears burning in his eyes all through first period, and had rushed away as soon as he could to let them out in private. 

Is this a life worth living? Tyler asked himself, not for the first time, as he stared at his reflection. I could just go so easily. I wouldn’t fuck it up like last time. I could take all of my anxiety pills before I go to bed. I could slit my wrists open. I could jump off a bridge. Nobody would care.

And it was true. Some may argue that Josh would care, that Josh could help him in this situation, but it just wasn’t true. If Tyler were to kill himself, Josh would be sad. He would mourn for a while, but eventually he would get over it. Sometimes he may think back to that poor kid Tyler who wasn’t brave enough to hold onto his life. But he would get over it. Tyler was thinking of this as the door creaked open, revealing one of the guys who had tormented him yesterday. It was funny, Tyler thought, that this guy was able to make him so miserable so quickly, and Tyler didn’t even know his name. The guy sneered.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, crying to yourself in the boy’s bathroom? Are you honestly that pathetic? You’re such a fucking faggot, honest to God,” the guys rolled his eyes, seeming almost offended by Tyler’s problems. Maybe that was what made him say what he did next.

“It’s your fault.” He said dully. And he should’ve left it there. But he couldn’t. “It’s people like you who make people try to kill themselves. If I was dead right now, it would be on you. Maybe only partly, but enough that you should feel guilty. And hey, maybe I’ll try again tonight, or tomorrow, or next week, but when I do you should know that I’m killing myself to get away from how people like you make me feel. You’re practically murdering me with what you’re saying, and you know what the worst part is? Hmm? It’s that you don’t even care. You taunt me for trying to kill myself, but you made me. And I would wish for you to feel like I do, but I don’t think that anyone deserves that. I’m going to kill myself tonight. I’ve decided that. And when I do, tell your friends that I might still be alive if it weren’t for them.”

The guy stared at him, mouth open in surprise. 

“My name’s Pete. Don’t kill yourself because of me, holy crap.” 

“You can’t stop me,” Tyler said, instantly regretting not just leaving when Pete made his remark.

“I fucking can, and I will. I’ll tell Mr Stump,” Pete blabbed, seeming so nervous. Tyler stared at him.

“Are you threatening to tell the teacher on me?”

“Do you usually want to kill yourself?” Pete asked, not answering his question. 

“No. I thought I was getting better. I’ve actually been happy these past few days.”

“And you’re going to kill yourself because you’re having an off day? Everybody has those. Granted, yours might be a little worse, but let’s be honest, that’s just stupid. This sould at least be something you sleep on. Tomorrow will be different,” Pete said.

“No it won’t,” Tyler muttered, heading for the doors. Pete grabbed his shoulder before he could leave, but didn’t turn him around.

“It will.” he said, sounding so determined that Tyler almost believed him. And you know what?

It was.

~*~

Three Years Later

Tyler was twenty years old. He was too young to get married. His parents would have greed, were they still on speaking terms with him. Even so, he held a small black box in his trembling hand, praying that when he asked, Josh would say yes. 

Tyler wasn’t perfect. Granted, there were some moments he was so happy that he thought he was, but no. His anxiety, and depression - which he was diagnosed with after Pete told Mr Stump about the bathroom incident and Tyler’s suicide watch was transferred to an actual ward – hadn’t faded completely. He still sometimes was so stressed he couldn’t get out of bed, but he was better than he used to be. He wanted to live a long life – a long life with a certain man by his side.

“Baby boy?” Josh asked groggily, sitting up in bed. The idiot liked to take too long naps in the afternoon, even though he ended up unable to sleep at night. Tyler shoved the box into his pocket in an obvious movement. He didn’t know how to proceed. 

“There – there’s a fair in town tonight. I thought we could go,” Tyler blurted out, and Josh grinned at him. 

“Sick. Should I get ready now?” It was only 4pm, but Tyler was more than happy to go early. It would be just like the first time. Tyler gave a jerky nod and left the room, breathing slowly. 

Josh didn’t take too long getting ready, and they were off before Tyler could fully collect himself. If Josh noticed something was up with him, he didn’t point it out. “Is it at the same place?” Josh asked excitedly from the passenger seat. 

“No,” Tyler smiled sadly. “But it’s good enough.” It was good enough. Tyler had already been there, and there was everything he needed – most importantly, a nice grassy hill not too far from the fair.

When they got to the fair, Tyler was moving automatically. They went on rides, they ate candy floss, and Tyler bested all of the games he could, winning more prizes than he needed. 

“Come with me,” Tyler said, grabbing Josh’s hand and pulling him with him. It was just the right time of night – the fair had gotten busy, so it would’ve been uncomfortable for them to stay, and they had just about reached the point that they had done as much as they could without repeating themselves.

Tyler and Josh walked hand in hand to the grassy hill, Josh talking animatedly and Tyler trying to swallow his nerves. He had no guarantee that Josh was going to say yes – they were so young, after all, and Tyler didn’t even know where Josh stood on marriage. 

“Hey, it’s like last time,” Josh’s eyes lit up as he lay down on the hill, Tyler following him with stiff movements. “Ty, are you okay? You’ve been acting kind of-”

“Marry me,” Tyler blurted out, then almost hit himself. That wasn’t romantic! It wasn’t how he planned it! And the ring! Tyler fumbled in his pockets as Josh stared on in shock. Tyler sat up to grab the box. Just as he was about to open it and present it to Josh, it slipped out of his grasp and tumbled down the hill. Tyler was on the verge of tears. It just wasn’t how he planned it going. He got up to get the box and maybe just run away, but Josh, now sitting up, pulled him back down, a huge grin on his lips. 

“For real?” he asked, eyes sparkling with mirth.

“Yeah. I want to spend my life with you, and I know I don’t need a contract for that to happen, but I just… I just want to marry you,” Tyler finished lamely, and Josh dragged him forward to kiss him eagerly. 

“Is that a yes, or are you just turning me down really easily?” Tyler asked as they pulled back for breath. Josh rolled his eyes, still grinning.

“I was thinking a spring wedding.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so I wasn’t originally going to end it there. I feel as if I just left a lot of things unresolved. I was going to go on and do the next day with Tyler going to school and maybe Josh showing up to pick him up and more awful cuteness, but I thought that this was a good place to end it. If you want another chapter or something, just tell me and I’ll write one.


End file.
